


when nothing is perfect (it's the perfect time to begin)

by ABSedarian



Series: Thirty Worlds (AU Challenge) [22]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: (but not one of our ladies), F/F, Mafia AU, Thirty Worlds AU series, but nothing too gory, darkness with a happy ending, people die, rating is for violence not sex for a change, this turned out a little darker than planned, violence and death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 17:12:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10791063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ABSedarian/pseuds/ABSedarian
Summary: AU Challenge / Challenge on Infinite EarthsPart 22: Mafia AURegina Mills wants a life of peace and quiet - and nothing to do with her mother's business. For that, however, she probably shouldn't have fallen in love with undercover cop Emma Swan. Or underestimated her mother's deviousness.This turned out a little darker than expected ...





	when nothing is perfect (it's the perfect time to begin)

Regina managed to eat a few leaves of her salad while trying hard not to look like she was listening intently to the business her mother was dealing with at the dinner table. But given that Cora Mills was dressing down two men twice her size and had them shaking in their boots, it was hard to avoid.

Business at the dinner table was a very normal occurrence, and so was the smell of fear coming from whomever Cora was dealing with. However, the subject matter of this particular dressing down was not.

“Do you mean to tell me that you let that _woman_ escape after she took the case with half a million dollars meant for samples of the new supplier’s shipment?” Cora’s voice was quiet and all the more deadly for it.

The taller of the two men visibly straightened his shoulders and nodded resignedly. “Yes, Ma’am.” He swallowed against the fear in his throat. “She had a bike and we couldn’t follow her through that alley … and then she was just gone. There was nothing we could do.”

Regina tried her hardest to remain outwardly unmoved but inside she was shaking, praying that the really, really bad feeling she suddenly got was wrong. That the goons were talking about another woman and not— _No! Emma wouldn’t be so stupid. Would she?_ Damn, she needed to make a phone call. Otherwise she wouldn't know.

“There was nothing you could do.” Cora calmly got up from her seat at the table, her as yet unused steak knife held loosely in one hand. “Was there?” she muttered, then proceeded to ram the knife into the big man’s chest, straight into his heart.

Dispassionately, she watched him crumble to the floor, the knife stuck in his chest keeping the blood flow to a minimum. Cora knew how to make an impression without making a mess of her dining room, that was for certain, Regina thought with an internal sigh.

She watched as Cora’s eyes moved to the second man. “Do you also think that there was nothing any of you could have done?”

“No, Ma’am,” the man stammered.

“Good.” Her Prada-shod foot kicked the side of the dead goon on the floor. “Take care of the trash, then get my money back. You have until tonight.”

“Yes, Cora.” He bowed obsequiously, then hefted the corpse up and lugged it out of the room in a fireman’s carry while Cora calmly sat back down and turned to her husband. “I need a new knife.”

Regina swallowed hard, eyes closed tightly against the image of the man on the floor and the meek way her father simply handed over his own steak knife to his wife. She needed to get out of here before she threw up what little she had eaten so far.

“You seem a little off, dear,” Cora commented mildly. Almost too mildly. “Is there something bothering you?”

The voice held a hint of menace and Regina knew better than to say what she was thinking. “Everything is fine, Mother.”

“Good. Stop fidgeting then.”

“I just need to make a quick phone call,” Regina explained, hoping she managed to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

“Now?” Cora glared at her daughter. “You know dinner is sacred to me.”

Regina’s eyes involuntarily moved to the spot where Cora had killed a man not five minutes before. “It’s important. Henry’s teacher requested I call her around this time to talk about his weekend detention,” she lied, making up a story on the go. That Henry had been given detention and wasn’t allowed to leave his boarding school for the weekend was a circumstance that was more than just a fortunate coincidence. It was simply that if Emma really _had_ done something impulsive, their plan needed to change. Fast.

“That child needs to learn to keep his temper in check,” Cora said, then waved her hand dismissively. “I expect you to discipline him more. If you can’t do it, I certainly will.” She sighed. “Oh, well. Go. You have five minutes.”

Regina jumped up and moved quickly out of the room, phone already in her hand. She was disgusted with herself that she had even waited for her mother’s approval before leaving the table. She was a grown woman and shouldn’t still be under her mother’s iron rule, but the scars on her back reminded her daily that Cora was not to be trifled with. Which is why this phone call was so important — all their carefully made plans hinged on nothing going wrong at the last minute.

“Where are you?” she muttered under her breath when her call to Emma was sent to voicemail straight away. Worry gnawed at her insides as she wondered what to do. She needed to figure out what had happened without her mother getting suspicious which would probably require a little finesse. She checked her phone to see that her allotted time was nearly up, so she squared her shoulders and returned to the dining room.

“Everything in order?” her mother asked but there was no real interest or warmth in her tone.

“Everything’s fine.” Her father gave her a look that told Regina that her voice must have given away some of her anxiety. “Mother—“

“Are you _still_ upset about the incident earlier?” Cora sighed. “Incompetence needs to be addressed promptly, you know that.” The look she gave Regina across the length of the table was long and hard. “And so does insubordination and dereliction of duty. Or betrayal.”

Regina wondered where Cora was heading with this but she didn’t have to wait long.

“I’ve decided that I want you to take care of our little problem.”

“ _Our_ problem, Mother?”

“That cop,” Cora replied impatiently. “I’ll let the men know that you’ll be handling the situation once they’ve caught her.”

Regina’s heart skipped a beat in both worry and pleased surprise. This had been easier than expected, which could quite conceivably mean that her mother had something else up her sleeve. She hoped she’d find out her mother’s plan before it was too late.

Regina watched as her mother dabbed her lips with the fine napkin before dropping it unceremoniously into the blood left on her plate from the almost raw steak she had consumed. “I expect to see that cop’s hands and heart before tomorrow’s over,” Cora said as she got up. “On a platter. Do not disappoint me, Regina.”

 _Ah, so that was it._ Making her kill a cop to ensure her place in the family business. Regina swallowed hard and bit back a sigh. Maybe she shouldn’t have gone for a law degree after all, she thought. Ever since she had become a lawyer, her mother had gotten increasingly nervous and demanding. And now this.

The only good thing was that her mother had no idea about her plans. Or so she hoped.

When she got up to leave the table, her father held her back with a hand on her forearm. She loved her father dearly but their relationship had become strained when he had stopped even trying to put an end to Cora’s verbal and physical abuse. Henry Mills hadn’t looked his daughter in the eyes in more years than Regina could remember, but to her surprise, his dark eyes met hers now.

“I know I’ve been a lousy father, my darling girl,” he whispered, mindful of the fact that the walls more often than not had ears in their house. “But I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I don’t know what—“ Her automatic denial was interrupted by a gentle shake of a grayed head.

“I know you, my child, and I know you’re up to something,” he continued in Spanish. “And I’m afraid your mother is quite suspicious of you, too. So …,” he smiled gently, “good luck.”

He squeezed her arm once before letting go, and Regina could only nod as she swiftly walked out the door, her father’s words ringing in her ears. _I hope you know what you’re doing …_

_Trying to survive another day._

Regina snatched up her car keys, getting ready to leave. Might as well get on with the plan — it was always better to assume that everything was going to be all right.

“¡Regina, aguarde!” her father’s voice stopped her as she was just about to leave the house. “Toma esto,” he whispered as he handed her a wrapped bundle.

“Qué—“

“Shh,” Henry cautioned, silencing her with a quick shake of his head. He looked around, the cautiously lifted a corner of the cloth to reveal the dull dark gray of a gun. “It used to be your mother’s back when …”

Regina nodded. Back when Cora Mills still pulled the trigger herself.

“Be careful, Regina,” Henry warned once again. “But should you have to do something … drastic, wear gloves and leave the gun behind. She killed a police officer with it many years ago, and they never forget that. I made sure she touched it once she took off her gloves, and I’ve been careful with it. She thinks I dumped it but I kept it as insurance … Well, anyway … take it.”

Regina swallowed at the implication but took the bundle nevertheless. She knew it would be foolish not to, no matter how much she wanted nothing to happen and everything to go as planned. With her mother’s suspicions, however, chances of that happening were slim to non-existent. “Gracias, papí,” she breathed, almost inaudibly, before pulling her father into a tight hug.

“Live a good life, Regina.” Henry’s voice was cracking. “Better than I did. Be happy. Te amo.”

“I love you, too.” Regina held back the tears that were threatening to escape at how very final they both sounded.

Heart heavy with too many regrets, Henry pulled out of the hug to open the door. He pushed Regina outside, then straightened his shoulders and went in search of his wife. He couldn’t help Regina much with whatever was going on, but maybe he could at least distract Cora for a while.

 

* * * * *

 

Regina went to her apartment to pack the rest of her things and grab the already packed bags while calling her lover’s cell phone every five minutes only to be sent to voicemail immediately every single time. Her bad feeling was getting worse by the minute but she stubbornly refused to deviate from the plan other than pulling it forward by a day.

The phone call she had been dreading came a few hours later, just as she was putting the last bag in her car. She closed the trunk before answering, knowing she had no real choice.

“Yes?”

A dirty chuckle reached her ears. “Well, well, if it isn’t the princess herself,” a voice drawled. “So you finally got over that righteous streak?”

“I hope your call has a point,” Regina muttered, annoyed and on edge, and trying not to show it. “Other than to get on my nerves, that is.”

The voice at the other end turned cold. “Well, Cora said you’d be taking care of our little problem.”

“So?”

“So we have the rat,” the voice replied, sounding gleeful. “Can’t wait to see how you handle this one, Princess.”

“Where is she?” It took all of her will to keep her concern out of her voice.

“Come to the warehouse,” came the simple instruction. “You know which one.”

Regina ended the call without another word to her mother’s most obnoxious thug. “The warehouse,” she muttered under her breath. While Hook had been vague on the phone, Regina did indeed have a fair idea which of her mother’s hideouts and warehouses he meant. She had never been there, had avoided it like the plague actually, but she knew where it was. With a grimace, she pulled on a pair of black leather gloves, then checked the gun her father had given her.

Fully loaded.

She put it in the waistband at the back of her jeans so it was covered by her jacket, then got into the car.

Time to end this.

Regina parked her car close enough to the warehouse but out of sight, hoping that Hook hadn’t brought too many men with him. Knowing him the way she did, she was almost certain that his ego ensured that he was alone. Still, since this could just as well be a trap, it was prudent to be careful.

She shook her hands out before she left the car, trying to bleed out the nerves she felt but they were not really getting better on the way to the warehouse’s side door. Once there, she took a deep breath, then headed inside.

The door opened almost silently — attention to detail had always been one of her mother’s strengths — and Regina made sure to close it just as softly. The leather soles of her shoes barely made a noise on the concrete floor of the almost empty warehouse, which appeared cavernous in a dusty gloom barely enhanced by the light streaming in through a row of high, incredibly dirty windows.

Regina edged her way around a few scattered stacks of boxes that had formed an entryway of sorts so she could see the rest of the large room. Her breath caught when her worst fear was realized: at the far end of the warehouse Emma Swan was tied to a chair, a ray of light falling on her, bathing her in a dim, natural spotlight.

Regina willed herself not to rush forward to free her lover, instead walking slowly, ears and eyes open to anything that moved. Hook was nowhere in sight, and neither was anybody else. Regina’s shoulders lost some of their tension as she made her way over to Emma, her stride unconsciously getting longer and faster with each step.

Finally, she was close enough to see that Emma was breathing, her chest moving slowly, but she didn’t seem to be conscious. “Emma!” The strangled whisper burst out of Regina despite her best intentions as she dropped to one knee next to the chair Emma was tied to.

Emma stirred, opening her eyes with a few, slow blinks, then looking at Regina with a horrified look. “Go,” she rasped. “T-trap.”

Regina smiled sadly, her suspicions confirmed. “I know,” she whispered close to Emma’s ear. “Couldn’t let you rot here, though.”

Emma chuckled before gasping in a few painful breaths while Regina started working on the duct tape that tied Emma to the chair.

“What did they do to you?” Regina asked quietly.

“Nothing,” Emma breathed. “Couple broken ribs. Hook smacked me around a little.”

“I’m so sorry, Emma.” Regina ripped off the duct tape from one wrist.

Emma bit back a cry. “Not your fault.”

“Still …” Regina leaned around to cup Emma’s face, still keeping her voice very low. “I _am_ sorry. For everything.”

“Well, well,” a man’s voice suddenly drawled from the shadows of a stack of boxes to the side that Regina had missed. “Looks like Cora was right once again.”

“Hook!” Regina hissed , getting to her feet and whirling around to face him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!” _It was worth a try, right? It wasn’t like he was the sharpest tool in the shed._ “I was just checking to see what you had done to this woman. Mother really thinks she’s a cop? I mean look at her …”

Hook scoffed loudly. “Yeah, don’t even try that, Princess.” He started to walk over, slowly and, Regina observed, exuding extreme self-confidence. When he was close enough for Regina to smell his distinctive odor — booze, unwashed leather and sweat — he stopped and smirked. “Your mother told me to call her straight away once you arrived to mount your oh so heroic rescue but now that I have the two of you here, and that rat being such a captive audience, I think I’ll be having some fun with you first before handing you off to Cora for her special brand of justice.” He leered at Regina, smirking when he heard Emma growl in response. His gaze wandered to Emma. “Oh, are you jealous? I suppose I could have my fun with you instead. You seem much more feisty than this goody two shoes here anyway. And maybe I can show you a thing or two that you’ve probably been missing with Princess Regina.”

“I doubt it,” Emma snarled.

Hook laughed. “Like I said, you always were feisty.” He turned to Regina. “Your mother knew she was a cop before she even let her start working for us,” he explained. “One of her cop friends kindly informed us of the undercover operation. Nothing she gave the cops in the past nine months had any value whatsoever.”

“So this whole setup … mother being upset ... the money Emma supposedly stole …” Regina whispered, more to herself than anything else. “She _killed_ one of the men over tis.”

“A trap for you,” Hook confirmed. “And you jumped right in. As for Tiny … it was time for him to go anyway, so Cora took the opportunity.” He shook his head. “You know, Cora was so disappointed when you actually started up your little tryst with a cop of all people, and that’s not even mentioning her revulsion when she realized you thought you were some kind of dyke.”

“The word is —“

“I don’t care what you call yourself and her.” Hook pointed a thumb at Emma. “And neither does Cora, I bet. Tell me, Princess, is that why your son is away at school? Couldn’t take the fact that his mother was a dyke? Is that why you couldn’t hold on to Henry’s dad? Oh, wait, no … he died, didn’t he?” He let out an evil chuckle. “Probably saved him some heartache.”

Regina lunged at him, but Hook evaded her with a quick side step. “You will not talk about Henry or his father,” Regina yelled, even as she stumbled and had trouble keeping her balance. She was both furious and nauseous as she once more turned to face Hook. “And you will not touch Emma,” she added, giving up all pretense.

“ _Again_ , you mean?” Hook asked with a wicked grin, his arms outstretched. “Or what?”

With one fluid movement Regina pulled the gun from the back of her jeans, released the safety and pointed it a Hook. “Or this.”

Hook guffawed. “Where did you find _that_?” He didn’t sound intimidated at all. “One of your rich divorce clients? Is that thing even loaded?”

Regina pointed the gun at his right knee and pulled the trigger. The cacophony that followed — the shot, Hook’s scream, Emma’s bellow of “Regina!” — was almost too much, but Regina took a deep breath to ready herself for what else had to come. Shooting out one knee was only step one — part of her mother’s particular brand of interrogation as far as she had gleaned from talks around the house — but if she wanted to be rid of her mother forever so she and Emma and Henry could have a life, she needed to do much, much worse.

“As you can _feel_ , it _is_ loaded,” Regina stated, her voice rough. “So stay where you are.” She walked back over to Emma and ripped off the duct tape from her second wrist. “The car is outside, it is packed with everything,” she said in a rush. “You’ll see it when you turn right a couple of times.”

“I’m not leaving you here with him,” Emma protested while she pulled off the duct tape from around her ankles, wincing as the movement put pressure on her injured ribs.

“You _have_ to, Emma,” Regina urged. “You shouldn’t be here for what I have to—”

“You don’t _have_ to do anything!” Emma tried again. “We can just go, disappear, live our life away from all of this.”

The look Regina gave Emma was soft and regretful. “That’s not possible any longer, Emma,” she said more calmly than she felt, ”and you know it. Not if my mother knows about us. No, this is how it has to be.”

“But how is killing _him_ going to solve our problem?” Emma asked.

“Yeah, killing me is totally unnecessary,” Hook bit out around a groan of pain. “I swear I won’t say anything to Cora, if you just leave me here.”

Regina ignored him. “Please trust me when I say this is the only way,” she pleaded with Emma. “Get to the car and wait for me. Please?”

“I’m staying,” Emma insisted. “Whatever you’re planning, I won’t let you go through it alone. Stronger together, remember?”

It was moments like these when Regina knew exactly why she had fallen so hard for this woman but it didn’t change her mind. “Emma, I’d rather you didn’t see what’s about to happen here.”

“Nothing you’re planning is going to change the way I think of you,” Emma said quietly, voice calm. “The way I feel about you.” She grabbed Regina’s shoulders, forcing her lover to make eye contact. “Nothing, you hear me?”

“Urgh,” Hook groaned and mock-gagged. “Kill. Me. Now.”

Regina held Emma’s eyes for a moment longer. “Promise?” When Emma nodded, Regina slowly turned back to Hook, her eyes leaving Emma’s at the last possible moment.

“You two are disgusting,” Hook spat. “All that wasted potential. No wonder your mother is so ashamed of you, Princess.” He hissed the last word. “She gave you everything you could ever want and this is how you’re paying her back? By betraying her?” He suddenly laughed. “Just wait till she comes after you,” he said with a smirk. “You don’t really think you’ll ever be able to escape, do you?”

“Ah, see,” Regina replied softly. “That’s where you’re tragically wrong, Hook.” She raised the gun in her gloved hands and pointed it at his left knee. “What do you think is going to happen when the cops find your body?” She pulled the trigger and took out his left knee. “All the signs of mother’s well-known interrogation technique on you?”

Emma could see the moment Hook put everything together — the gun, the gloves, the knee shots — his face losing color rapidly, both from shock and from pain. It was the moment she put two and two together as well, nodding to herself. It was wholly unlike Regina — or at least the Regina she had known thus far — but if it worked, it could indeed free them forever.

“How many people have you tortured this way in my mother’s name? Or simply because you enjoyed it? How many women have you defiled just because you were _in the mood for some fun_?”

“Regina, please,” Hook begged. “Please, have mercy. This is not you. You’re a good girl, you don’t do these kinds of things!” When Regina didn’t react, Hook’s eyes went to Emma. “You’re a cop, Swan, help me! You can’t just let her shoot me!”

“You haven’t answered the question,” Emma replied calmly. She had spent too much time with Hook and Cora’s other helpers to feel all that much sympathy for him, although her conscience did twitch at the thought of Regina pulling that trigger to end him. She knew it would change her lover forever, and probably not in a good way. She opened her mouth before she could think about her words. “Let me do it,” she offered in a whisper. “Don’t take this onto your soul.”

Regina’s eyes were pained when they met Emma’s. “You think I’m not ready to do what it takes to protect us.” It was not a question, and her whole demeanor exuded sadness.

“No,” Emma immediately denied, needing to soothe the inadvertent hurt while at the same trying to make her point more clearly. “I know that you’re absolutely capable of killing him.” She pointed at the whimpering Hook on the floor who was trying to move away from them. Emma’s glare stopped him in his tracks. “I just don’t think you should carry that burden. You’ve never killed anyone, but I _have_ … and maybe Henry should have a mother who doesn’t have _that_ weighing on her?”

“I appreciate the offer more than you can imagine,” Regina whispered tightly, “but this is something I _have_ to do. For myself. For our future. And I hope you’ll be there to help me make sure that Henry has _two_ people to raise him with love and light in their hearts.”

One long look filled with a thousand words spoken back and forth, then Emma nodded and stepped back. Regina raised the gun and took a carefully measured step around Hook, approaching him from behind, Emma following along, determined to stay by Regina's side. She closed her eyes but kept a hand in the small of Regina’s back.

Regina pointed the gun, then closed her eyes as well while trying to keep the shaking of her hands to a minimum.

The final shot went into the back of his head, just like Regina had always heard her mother and her henchmen did it. Hook fell over onto his left side without a sound, and Emma quickly opened her eyes and pulled Regina back before any blood could reach their feet. She reached for the gun but Regina had the presence of mind to pull it out of reach. "No, you can’t touch it,” she wanted to shout but her voice came out as barely more than a croak.

It only took one good look at Regina's face for Emma to realize she had to act quickly. "We need to get out of here," she urged, already pulling her lover along with a firm grip on her arm.

"We have to ..." Regina held up the gun, her arm getting heavier by the second.

"Outside," Emma said simply. "Close enough for the cops not to miss it but clever enough not to be totally obvious.”

Regina could only nod and stumble along as Emma pulled her outside, wondering what was going on with her all of a sudden. The sun felt good against the cold that seemed to permeate her body but it didn’t really help against the shivering that she only noticed then.

Emma noticed the pallor of Regina’s face, not entirely unsurprised to see the almost ashen shade turn to green. “Just another minute,” she told Regina. “Just keep it together for one more minute.”

They moved as quickly as possible until Emma spotted the open dumpster just a few yards away from the door. “Toss it inside,” she said but when Regina appeared unable to follow the command because her whole body had begun to shake now, Emma pulled the arm up by the sleeve of the leather jacket and moved it until Regina’s hand was over the edge of the dumpster. “Let go,” Emma whispered. “Just let go.”

It took a few moments but finally Regina’s hand unclenched, releasing the gun into the dumpster with a muted _thud_. “Good,” Emma said, gently lowering the arm but not letting go. “Where’s your car?” When Regina didn’t reply, Emma grabbed her shoulder and shook gently. “Regina, where exactly is the car?”

The eyes that met Emma’s were unfocused, staring into the distance but probably not seeing much of anything. “Sorry,” Regina mumbled when Emma tightened the hold on her shoulders. “So sorry. I hate … I never wanted … I hate my mother … Why did she—“

“The car, Regina,” Emma urged again, nerves creeping into her voice. Regina was going into some kind of shock after feeling forced to kill Hook, and Emma still wasn’t sure if there weren’t more of Cora’s men coming. Or worse, Cora herself. “We need to get out of here.”

Finally, Regina nodded. “The back. Around the corner. Side street.”

“Okay,” Emma breathed. “Good. Come on.”

They were almost at the car when Regina’s body decided to rebel completely. Emma watched as her lover stopped walking to take a couple of deep breaths, but Emma read the signs just in time to lead Regina to wall and helped her lean over. Whatever Regina had eaten that day was lost between cardboard boxes that were scattered on the ground. “Oh God,” Regina whined when she was done and was held safely in Emma’s arms. “I hope this isn't somebody’s home.”

Emma wondered why that was the first thought that entered Regina’s head at a moment like this but it made her lips turn into a tiny, crooked smile at the dichotomy this represented in the woman she loved. “I don’t think so.” She pressed a kiss to Regina’s forehead. “Come on, let’s go get Henry.”

The mention of her son's name got Regina to straighten her shoulders but a second later her face fell again. "How can I ever look him in the eyes, Emma?" she asked plaintively. "I just killed a man."

"You did it to save my life," Emma replied softly. "Probably your own as well, and I don't want to know what Cora would turn Henry into if she got her claws into him without you to shield him from her influence every day." Emma cupped Regina's face. "Hook was not a good man, and he's killed a lot of people, so I consider what you were forced to do a service to humanity."

"Still ... I never wanted any of this," Regina whispered. "All I wanted was to live a good life."

"And that's exactly what we're going to do from now on," Emma promised. "You, me and Henry in a sleepy little town somewhere that might need a lawyer and a sheriff."

Regina's eyebrow went up. "Sounds like you have a specific place in mind."

Emma nodded, biting her lip. "I was thinking about it when I was sitting there all tied up and waiting for whatever Hook and Cora had planned for us," she said. "One of my foster moms moved up north a few years ago, and she's always wanted me to come visit. She was one of the few good ones, and I’m sure you'd like her. Might be nicer than moving all the way across the country …”

"It's as good a start as any," Regina replied with a small smile, the first one in what felt like eons. “Let’s go.”

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a line from a song that was playing as I was writing the ending, and I thought it was appropriate. I just can't remember what the song is called or who was singing it ...


End file.
